Editorial: Inspiring stories connected by a deadly disease

A young mother of a high school basketball player in Milwaukee dies, setting into motion an inspiring story of sportsmanship involving the DeKalb High School team.

A young mother of a high school basketball player in Milwaukee dies, setting into motion an inspiring story of sportsmanship involving the DeKalb High School team.

A loud-mouthed and brash reality TV star in Britain marries with just weeks to live, generating tender feelings toward the young woman — feelings that Britons never expected.

Both these stories are connected by the disease of cervical cancer. Carlitha Franklin, 39, died from it; 27-year-old Jade Goody is expected to die very soon.

The mortality rate of cervical cancer has dropped 70 percent since a simple screening test, the Pap smear, began to be widely recommended in the 1950s and ’60s. The Pap test is the most common screening procedure in medicine; it can prevent almost every cervical cancer death.
If detected early, this type of cancer is nearly 100 percent curable.

However, too many women don’t get the Pap test, and too many continue to suffer and die. In 2008 it was estimated that 590 Illinois women were diagnosed with the disease and 210 women died.

The National Cervical Cancer Coalition says that each year in the U.S., 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,700 women die of the disease.

Carlitha Franklin was one of the unlucky ones. The mother of Johntel Franklin, the senior captain of the Milwaukee Madison high school basketball team, she was considered in remission after five years of treatment for cervical cancer. Yet, she unexpectedly began hemorrhaging and died quickly. Her son was devastated, setting off a chain of events that ended in Johntel sitting at the sidelines during a game against DeKalb. He told the coach he wanted to play to deal with his grief, and the referee insisted on giving Johntel’s team a technical foul, which entitled DeKalb to two free throws.

DeKalb’s team knew what they had to do: Their senior captain went up to the line and intentionally missed the two points. “I did it for the guy who lost his mom,” Darius McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It was the right thing to do.”

British reality show star Jade Goody was certain of the right thing to do, too, when she was told she had little time left in her fight against cervical cancer. She decided on a very public marriage to her boyfriend — in part to draw attention to the need for regular Pap smears. She also wanted to raise enough money for her sons’ educations. She has a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old.

The tragedy of these deaths should not overshadow what every woman can do. Get tested — your modesty is certainly not more valuable than your life.

Rockford Register Star

About cervical cancer

Cervical cancer occurs most often in women over age 30.

Six of 10 cervical cancers occur in women who have never received a Pap test or who have not been tested in the past five years.

You should get regular Pap tests at age 21, or within three years of the first time you have sex (whichever happens first).

If you are 30 or older, and your Pap tests have always been normal, you may not need another test for up to three years.

Almost all cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Certain strains of HPV may increase your risk of getting cervical cancer. However, less than 1 percent of the 20 million Americans infected with HPV will develop cervical cancer.

To prevent contracting HPV, get the HPV vaccine. It is recommended for 11- and 12-year-old girls, and all girls 13 through 26 who have not received the vaccine or didn’t complete the series of three shots.

More than 260,000 women in Illinois may qualify for free cancer screenings and treatment through the recently expanded Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program. For more information, call 888-522-1282 or log onto www.cancerscreening.illinois.gov

Sources: The Office of the Governor; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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